Friday, January 26, 2007

Update on Yale Case

How does a fight between brawling college-age males become a national story? When it involves the sons of prominent, well-connected individuals at an elite East Coast university and news organizations only too happy to propel a dreamy plot line sure to grab headlines.

But an accurate portrayal has been hard to come by, or at least difficult to get into print. Even the mighty New York Times bought into the hype, running a story over the weekend that parroted a lot of the initial reports — preppies attacked by jealous thugs while police drag their feet — which officials working on the case say is a calculated manipulation of the truth.

One would certainly have a tough time finding a better story than a group of halo-wearing a cappella singers being attacked after singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.’’ But that early report has been debunked by police sources who say the fight was much more of an alcohol-fueled brawl that erupted after much taunting at the premises of two veteran police officers — neither of whom was around during the melee. But that hasn’t stopped Leanna Dawydiak or Reno Rapagnani from painting the story as a faulty investigation by the SFPD — with the suggestion being that perhaps the police are dragging their feet because there’s still bad blood over Fajitagate.